KASHKADARYA AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH–20TH CENTURIES: SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CHANGES

Abstract

This article provides an in-depth examination of the socio-economic and political transformations that took place in the Kashkadarya region of Central Asia during the transitional period between the 19th and 20th centuries. During this era, the traditional order governed by the Bukhara Emirate began to erode under increasing pressure from Russian imperial expansion. The article explores how the Russian Empire’s colonial policies, especially after the establishment of Bukhara as a protectorate in 1868, reshaped Kashkadarya’s agrarian economy through cotton cultivation, changes in irrigation systems, and the integration of the region into the broader imperial trade network. The study also highlights the region’s administrative restructuring under Russian influence, the gradual emergence of reformist movements like Jadidism, and the resulting tensions between traditional Islamic institutions and modernist ideals. Social dynamics, including the worsening conditions of the peasantry and instances of local resistance, are also analyzed. Through a careful synthesis of historical developments, the article reveals how Kashkadarya became a microcosm of the broader socio-political shifts affecting Central Asia during the late imperial period.